Kirsten Johnson Presentation

Kirsten Johnson’s presentation shows the instincts a filmmaker follows in order to get a shot of something. I loved her energy and the way she approached it. I believe it is the way filmmakers should follow: being comfortable and just be looking around for something. When it came to her walking around the auditorium she was talking to people and asking questions. It was as if she was looking for something. As if she was going by her gut instincts. When she eventually found something, she sat next to that person and just asked a few questions about them in order to learn more about them. It would eventually lead to her to learning something about the person that she didn’t know before. Another thing that she did was lay on the floor. I think she did this for two reasons. The first reason being she wants to establish a connection/relationship with her subject. By getting on the ground level with them it shows that she sees an interest with someone and wants to be equal with them. The second reason shows that when filming there is no one certain way to filming something. Kirsten proved it when she spoke about how she filmed the carrots in her film, The Above. She also explained how she used parts of legs to turn her body when filming something else. I think the main take away from the lecture is to not be afraid to film anything. You should always be on the look for anything and everything that catches your attention.

Continuity Final
Project 3

Audio Interview

Relationship between Shots Blog #3

From the first 15 seconds to a minute and ten seconds I decided to break down the fight scene in Star Wars: The Last Jedi in which Rey and Kylo Ren are working together to fight off the Praetorain Guards. The scene starts with a wide shot of everyone in frame in slow motion. The speed comes back to normal the moment their weapons clash against each other. The red drape in the background serves as continuity as it will eventually be set on fire revealing space and star destroyers in the distance as the fight continues. In the next shot Kylo Ren is the current subject but the camera shifts its focus to Rey in the distance by moving forward with a dolly. The camera stops just behind her shoulder to create a shot reverse shot as it cuts between her and the Guard. The camera cuts back to Rey as she back stabs with her lightsaber and twirls making the camera pan left to follow her and the weapon that she tossed towards the red drape. Continuity happens again as another guard who knelt to dodge the weapon gets back up after a reaction shot of Rey. As their weapons meet the camera cuts to Kylo picking up where Rey left off with his and another guards weapon clashing against each other. The camera tilts down as a third weapon is met. As the subjects walk backwards so does the camera by dollying out. Both the subjects and the camera move back in to meet as Kylo stabs a guard and throws him behind him. It then cuts to a close up shot of Kylo holding out his lightsaber while watching the guards every move. A point of view shot through Kylo’s eyes shows the guard looking back at us and is in focus.

Audio Interview

The Soundwalk

   

My soundwalk took place between 2 and 3pm. Since this was during the afternoon one keynote I was hearing were cars. The cars had a way of becoming both the foreground and background noises as I would hear them from a distance and then coming closer and louder. It was a scale of low to high and low again as the transition was smooth throughout. I would notice this as a kid when sitting in the backseat looking out the window. Other sound signals that I expected to hear during the walk where the wind chimes and the leaves.

Since it is now autumn the wind is starting to make its presence known thus hearing the wind chimes. When it came to the wind affecting the leaves there was a cycle. My attention started with the looking up at the trees while the wind was hitting against it. It would make a cool, breezy sound that would remind me of spring and how the same thing would occur. Some of the leaves or pedals would break off and sometimes spin giving a light tap or skid on the street or sidewalk.

I would even step on piles of leaves that curled up and collected with other leaves giving a good crunch sound when walking on them. It was something that I would do when walking home from school. It is something that I still do in which I would coordinate my steps so one foot fully steps on either a big leaf or pile of leaves.

Onofrio Gargano

Define a Space Project

Artist Statement

     Hi, I’m Onofrio Gargano and I am a Film major at Hunter College. For a while now I have been interested in telling stories, whether it be through books, movies or tv shows. I’ve always loved movies and as someone who is pursuing acting as a career I want to do my best when it comes to bringing a character life. Filmmaking is definitely something I would like to know both on the technical and emotional side of things while also having fun at the same time. Aside from having a good story I think one of the tricks to making a good movie or show is knowing the reasons behind your characters motivations.
One example I think that shows it best is in Game of Thrones. What makes the characters in the book and show great is the grey area of people the author touches on. The author explains that no one wakes up one day and thinks “what evil things shall I do for today”. It is a culmination of things that have happened over the course of their lives that has shaped them into who they are currently. This grey area the author explores in his characters enables us to understand and even emphasize with. By understanding their motivations and reasons to their decision the author makes the point that no one is entirely good nor entirely bad. That is what I want to explore in the realm of film. These are characters that we are going to following throughout the story until they reach their goal so, it is important that we understand who they are, what they are doing, and why they are doing the things that they are doing.
One way in which we connect with characters is through experience. We may not know what it feels like to fight a giant mythical creature, but we know what it feels like to fight against something that is greater than ourselves. We can understand what it feels like when a character has to make a decision that involves two people that they respect.
We wanna smile when our favorite character does something that feels right but, we're also going to shake our heads when the opposite occurs. It makes these characters more real and believable and we are able to connect to them even more. I want my characters I make to be relatable with people and feel just as real. Even as media has changed over the years the one thing that has never gone away is telling a story.